Ferdinand Foch
Marshal Ferdinand Jean Marie Foch was a French general and Marshal of France, Great Britain and Poland, a military theorist and the Allied Supreme Allied Commander during the final year of the First World War. Historians describe two sides of Foch. The first is the aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders, and Artois campaigns of 19141916. The other side is the Allied CommanderinChief who in 1918 successfully coordinated the French, British, American, and Italian efforts into a coherent whole. Relying on attrition, rather than maneuver, and deftly handling his strategic reserves, Foch defeated the German army. The second Foch generally receives more lavish praise than the first one.
Foch was born at Tarbes, HautesPyrnes, the son of a civil servant from Comminges. He attended school at Tarbes, Rodez and the Jesuit College at Sainttienne. His brother later became a Jesuit priest, which may initially have hindered Fochs rise through the ranks of the French Army since the Republican government of France was anticlerical.
Source: Wikipedia